fox grape

noun

1. a vine, Vitis labrusca, chiefly of the northeastern U.S., from which numerous cultivated grape varieties have been developed.
2. the usually purplish-black, thick-skinned, sweet, musky fruit of this vine.

fox grape

noun

1. a common wild grape, Vitis labrusca of the northern US, having purplish-black fruit and woolly leaves: the source of many cultivated grapes, including the catawba

Word History and Origins

Origin of fox grape¹

An Americanism dating back to 1630–40

Example Sentences

My mother’s grape-hull pies were unusually delectable; she used fox grapes and scuppernong grapes in them, and she used the seeded pulps of the grapes as well as the hulls.

From The New Yorker

English ivy, Boston ivy, and fox grape are just a few.

From Seattle Times

There were bunches of little fox grapes, too bitter and sour for even children to eat.

From Project Gutenberg

Mr. Parker's house was on the southern edge of the prairie which was fringed by a thick growth of hazel, sumach, plums, crabapples, wild cherries and fox grapes.

From Project Gutenberg

For the same purpose he especially recommends the planting of the following vines: Virginia creeper, bull-beaver, frost grape, and fox grape.

From Project Gutenberg